Less than 90 minutes before the second presidential debate began Sunday night, Donald Trump launched an unprecedented pre-emptive attack against Hillary Clinton, convening a surprise panel of four women who have accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault in a brazen attempt to flip the script on his Democratic opponent.

For the past 48 hours, Trump has been besieged by critics and fellow conservatives alike, following the bombshell publication of audio and video footage in which the G.O.P. nominee can be heard making lewd sexual comments and bragging about groping women. The hot-mic recording, made during a 2005 conversation with then Access Hollywood broadcaster Billy Bush, has sparked a deluge of defections from Republican leaders, including dozens of congressmen and senators who have described his comments as beyond the pale. After the recording first surfaced on Friday afternoon, the Trump campaign was quick to try to shift the conversation to Bill Clinton’s history of infidelities and past accusations of sexual harassment against the president. And the decision to invite the handful of women—which included Paula Jones, Kathy Shelton, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey—and have them share their stories was the iteration of the Trump campaign’s crisis response strategy.

Characterized as “debate prep,” Trump streamed the panel on his Facebook page before Sunday’s town hall-style debate was scheduled to begin. “Mr. Trump may have said some bad words but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me. I don’t think there is any comparison,” Broaddrick asserted.

The Clinton campaign was quick to condemn the preemptive strike. “This town hall is to talk to voters on stage and in the audience about the issues that matter to them, and this stunt doesn’t change that,” Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton’s communications director, said in a statement. “If Donald Trump doesn’t see that, that’s his loss. As always, she’s prepared to handle whatever Donald Trump throws her way.” And shortly after, Clinton tweeted a short video clip from the Democratic National Convention of Michelle Obama saying, “When they go low, we go high,” possibly giving us a preview of what to expect onstage from the former secretary of state.